Interior
Upper floor
The first floor, which can be accessed via the indoor stairway, will take you on a journey through time, featuring a recreation of the house that Valle-Inclán was acquainted with, following the structure of a traditional Galician urban mansion in the early 19th century. During the tour, you will enter the different rooms that saw the birth and development of one of the geniuses of Spanish literature.
The kitchen
On the first floor, one of the places that will catch your attention the most will be the kitchen, which is one of the house’s central spaces. It is presided over by the traditional Galician lareira (hearth). This was where the fire was made, and it was also used for cooking (the pots were usually placed on metal tripods). The smoke went up the hood, or cambota, that led to a masonry chimney. This had an internal system that allowed the smoke to escape and prevented the rain from entering.
A long, wooden bench (called a escaño) was usually placed near the hearth, while the table was located in a corner of the kitchen. The sink is under the window to take advantage of natural light.
The cupboards, at that time, were open, even making use of any gaps in the walls for this purpose. Another of the characteristic elements of the traditional Galician kitchen at that time was the artesa. It is a kind of wooden box in which food was stored and whose surface was used for kneading.
Valle-Inclán’s works feature several mentions of kitchens, since they brought together different social classes. That is where people ate, rested, prayed, gathered together and told stories – the master and mistress, the servants, suppliers… and even the priest.
The living room
Considered the place of “respect,” the living room was used only to receive visitors or for some special celebration, since daily life took place in the kitchen and the everyday dining room. Its furnishings and decorative objects clearly reflect the way of life of a wealthy family of that time.
The collection of 19th-century clocks is particularly noteworthy. You will find Spanish clocks in French style, Romanesque style, with adornments and even a Moretz wall clock, among other items.
The dining room
Here is where they had breakfast, lunch and dinner on a daily basis. Unlike the kitchen, there was no mixing of classes here. The servants only entered to serve the food and take it away, since they ate in the kitchen.
This was the transitional space on the way to the bedrooms; it was an open area that people passed through. As you can see, its layout is very much focused on providing comfort in everyday life and versatility in its use, over and above issues such as decoration.
Pay special attention to the excerpt of the film from the 1920s, La Malcasada, on loan from the National Film Archive, which you can see in the House-Museum’s dining room. In it, Valle-Inclán appears in Julio Romero de Torres’ studio, posing with the actress María Banquer. This excerpt is considered an audiovisual jewel of that time since it features more than a hundred personalities, inluding Francisco Franco himself, or the famous bullfighter Juan Belmonte, a friend of the author and whose name appears in Valle-Inclán’s works, for example, in his comedy Los cuernos de Don Friolera.
Once this film sequence concludes, you will be able to hear Valle-Inclán’s voice reading a fragment of his famous Autumn Sonata. This is a recording made in his day by the author for the Archive of the Word, which you can enjoy during your visit to the Casa do Cuadrante in Vilanova de Arousa.
Something that will catch your attention, on the left at the back of the room, is a corner that was very important in Valle-Inclán’s childhood, as reflected in his works. It is the spinning corner, which he mentions in detail in Jardín Umbrío:
“My grandmother had a very old maid called Micaela la Galana. She died when I was still very young. I remember that she spent hours spinning in a window bay and that she knew many stories about saints, lost souls, goblins and thieves. Now I tell the ones she told me, while her wrinkled fingers turned the spindle. Those stories featuring candid and tragic mystery frightened me at night during the years of my childhood and that is why I have not forgotten them. From time to time they still rise in my memory, and as if a silent and cold wind was passing over them, they resound with the long murmur of dry leaves. The murmur of an old, abandoned garden!”
Bedrooms
The Casa do Cuadrante has several bedrooms. These were the most “flexible” part of the typical Galician house of that time. These rooms were modified as required, so that they increased as the family grew.
For this reason, it is not strange to find small bedrooms called alcobas, which were created when needed by partitioning one of the old rooms to make room for a new member of the family. The master bedroom is the only common denominator throughout the Casa do Cuadrante’s history, while the secondary ones were modified over time. These were located in a line parallel to the main façade of the house and there were two more than those that currently exist. On your visit to the House-Museum you will be able to see the variability of sizes or how the old furniture intended for daily hygiene was arranged.
Office
As a curiosity, you will find a small office that recreates the creative space where Valle-Inclán could have used his privileged pen during the writing process of his first novel Femeninas, which originated in Vilanova just like its author. In this space, literature, economics and leisure come together. Also outstanding is the collection of pipes on display, a faithful witness to the quality and originality of the typical cabinetwork of that time.
